Corona continues to prey on more victims

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/ PESHAWAR: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 20,134 with 27 new deaths on Sunday taking the toll to 459 until the filing of report at 1am.

Of the total confirmed 20,134 cases, Sindh reported 7,465 cases, Punjab 7,494, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 3,129, Balochistan 1,218, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 393, Gilgit-Baltistan 364 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 71. Of the total 459 deaths, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 180 deaths, Sindh 130, Balochistan 21, Gilgit-Baltistan 3, Punjab 121, and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 4.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, eight more deaths on Sunday brought the death toll to 180 – the highest case fatality rate in the country.

The rising human losses and positive cases of coronavirus has increased case fatality rate to 5.8 per cent, the most highest in the country, of confirmed cases, 3129, and 180 deaths, also the highest in the country.

Since the provincial capital city Peshawar is the most affected place in the province, where 111 people had lost lives so far, out of 180, the case fatality rate in Peshawar is 9.3 percent, most in any city of Pakistan, of confirmed cases 1197, and the most in the province.

Meanwhile, eight more nurses were tested positive for coronavirus, according to Young Doctors Association (YDA). The YDA in a statement said that 48 members of the nursing staff had tested positive so far in the province, in which 35 are under treatment in different hospitals in KP.

In Punjab, confirmed cases of coronavirus jump to 7,494 with addition of highest number of 638 new infections in a single day.

Death of six more Covid-19 patients on Sunday raised the death toll to 121 in Punjab, while confirmed cases of coronavirus jumped to 7,494 with addition of highest number of 638 new infections in a single day since the outbreak of the disease in the province.

Out of 121 fatalities due to coronavirus in Punjab till date, as many as 57 deaths occurred in Lahore, 21 in Rawalpindi, 16 in Multan, six each in Gujranwala and Faisalabad, three each in Rahim Yar Khan and Gujrat, two in Sargodha and one each in Bahawalpur, Attock, Rajanpur, Sahiwal, Jhang, Narowal and Toba Tek Singh.

Out of 7,494 confirmed Covid-19 patients in Punjab so far, as many as 1,926 are preachers of Tableeghi Jamaat, 768 pilgrims, who recently returned from Iran, 86 prisoners in nine districts and 4,714 citizens, who either had travel history or fell victim to local transmission.

From amongst common citizens, the highest number of cases has been reported from Lahore where number reached 2,476.

Besides, 419 patients were reported from Rawalpindi, 294 Sialkot, 241 Gujrat, 211 Gujranwala, 178 Faisalabad, 98 Multan, 87 Sargodha, 72 Rahim Yar Khan, 61 each from Kasur and Jhelum, 51 Vehari, 44 Jhang, 38 Hafizabad, 37 Dera Ghazi Khan, 35 Attock, 34 Mandi Bahauddin, 25 Sheikhupura, 24 Muzafargarh, 22 Pakpattan, 21 each from Bahawalpur and Mianwali, 20 Narowal, 19 Okara, 18 each from Lodhran and Nankana Sahib, 15 Khushab, 14 Sahiwal, 13 each from Bhakkar and Chiniot, 11 Bahawalnagar, eight Toba Tek Singh, seven Khanewal, five Chakwal and three Layyah.

Of 1,926 confirmed Covid-19 preachers, 815 were reported from Raiwind Markaz, 145 Sargodha, 126 Multan, 106 Lodhran, 67 Bhakkar, 61 Muzafargarh, 56 Rahim Yar Khan, 54 Jhelum, 46 Vehari, 43 Bahawalpur, 38 Layya, 35 Hafizabad, 33 Mandi Bahauddin, 32 Khushab, 30 Rawalpindi, 28 Nankana Sahib, 27 Bahawalnagar, 26 Narowal, 22 each from Rajanpur and Sialkot, 21 Gujranwala, 18 Faisalabad, 16 Attock, 13 Pakpattan, 12 Sheikhupura, 10 Gujrat, eight Sahiwal, seven Mianwali, six Khanewal and two Okara.

Out of 768 confirmed patients from amongst pilgrims, 457 were reported from Multan, 221 Dera Ghazi Khan, 42 Gujranwala, 25 Sargodha and 23 Faisalabad.

Out of 86 Covid-19 patients in jails, 59 were reported from Lahore, nine Dera Ghazi Khan, seven Gujranwala, three each from Sialkot and Jhelum, two Bhakkar and one each from Faisalabad, Kasur and Hafizabad.

As per focal person of Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, so far, a total of 92,622 tests have been performed in the province. As many as 2,591 patients have recovered and returned home. Presently, 22 serious patients are under treatment at High Dependency Units in public sector hospitals.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Health Department announced that three more field hospitals had been set up in Karachi.

According to a notification, the designated centres were identified as Spencer Eye Hospital, Government Science College Lyari and Government Primary School Lyari.

Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has warned that the increasing death toll due to the coronavirus was worrying. He expressed his worries in a meeting with Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah where he was briefed on coronavirus situation. Health minister Azra Pechuho, Dr Abdul Bari and Dr Faisal briefed Bilawal.

“The right measures were taken due to the Sind government,” said Bilawal. He added that if the provincial government had not taken the right measures then the situation could turn worse.

In a related development, Nadra centres all across Sindh, including Karachi, will reopen for citizens from Monday onwards. According to officials, only one shift from 10am till 4pm will ensure that the offices are operational.

DG Nadra stated that they will give priority to new people and those who require biometric verification. He added that citizens seeking to collect their new CNICs should contact the offices after May 15.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza Sunday asked the citizens to support the efforts of government in its fight against COVID-19 and effectively implementing its smart lockdown policy.

Dr Mirza, in a news briefing, said the policy of smart lockdown could be successfully implemented if citizens fully cooperated with the government and implemented all the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

He said the people would be informed through the media about their responsibilities and they could also visit official websites to know about the SOPs.

He urged the citizens to take preventive measures against COVID-19 during Ramazan-ul-Mubarak to mitigate the pandemic in the country. He said still there were threats of spread of the disease and asked the citizens to continue implementing protective measures as per directions to stem the increase in coronavirus cases.

He said in order to create public awareness about the preventive measures during Ramazan-ul-Mubarak, a communication material had been prepared for the awareness of citizens. He said the SOPs had been prepared for all the persons concerned keeping in view the prevailing disease situation and asked the citizens to read them.

He said the situation was better in Pakistan regarding COVID-19 as compared to other countries. The government was gradually normalizing the lockdown in order to give relief to the common man and poor segments of the society.

He said initially those businesses were allowed where the chances of spread of disease were very low but with the obligation to follow the SOPs which were prepared to continue business activities with zero space for any negligence to spreading corona.

Dr Mirza asked the citizens to strictly follow all the SOPs issued by the government, including those for shopping, for use of masks, for business activities, for quarantine or for mosques, to protect themselves against the disease.